Connecting networks, connecting people
Network peering is extremely important in Africa as it enables African countries to fast-track their internet connectivity, reduce latency, and improve the overall performance of their networks. More importantly, it offers a vital tool to exchange contents and data that can accelerate social and economic development across the African continent.
Africa’s poor legacy telecoms infrastructure has presented challenges in connecting people, communities and countries in the past but peering partnerships have provided a viable and affordable solution to keep people connected, communities engaged and allow for the flow of data and information and data across borders and countries.
From a commercial perspective, remote peering is helping to reduce the cost of internet access and increases the quality of their services, making it easier and more affordable for people to access the internet and share data and content, quickly and efficiently.
Peering - accessing new horizons
Besides creating a variety of opportunities for the development of new applications, services and content, peering offers a much broader range of benefits in our now, digitally saturated world. This is especially so for developing businesses and enterprises looking to expand their business and network operations beyond South Africa to the rest of the continent and to other markets across the world.
Peering has become an increasingly trusted tool, and the demand for peering points across Africa has increased measurably. Today, more businesses are connected, and this has led to the spread of interconnection services, the growth in regional traffic exchange points, and the adoption of regional peering policies. Additionally, there has been an increased focus on deploying cloud-based services, as well as an emphasis on security, reliability, and scalability. There is also a growing trend towards more local peering, as well as more collaboration between African countries regarding network peering.
Localising the Internet
Currently there are 51 active IXPs stretching across 36 African countries. Companies, like Angola Cables are playing a constructive role in connecting communities and businesses across Africa and providing them with access to their more than 6 000 peering agreements across the world. According to Mahen Naidu, Head of Business Solutions at TelCables South Africa, a subsidiary of Angola Cables, “As the most interconnected network operator in Africa, Angola Cables’ extensive peering network essentially enables businesses to connect anywhere in the world, fast and securely.”
Naidu maintains that this offers tremendous advantages to many sectors from finance and banking to the ever-evolving oil and gas sectors which use vast amounts of data - not just for upstream exploration but for the day-to-day running of their global operations.
The future of peering in Africa
Peering remains essential in enabling data-intensive applications, such as streaming media and video, and providing faster, more reliable connections for cloud-based services. As businesses continue to adopt cloud computing and other digital technologies, network peering will become even more important to the acceleration of social and economic development in Africa. Whilst remote peering is not a new technology, its vital contribution to giving businesses in Africa the opportunity to access and exchange content and data with other parts of the world - and provide the necessary collaborative opportunities will be the catalyst that can help drive the continent of Africa towards a new prosperity.
